Chimney cover assembly



g- 23, 1965 c. a. HINKLE CHIMNEY COVER ASSEMBLY Filed June 8, 1964 INVENTOR.

CHARLES G. H/NKLE Tlrl) .IILII ||il|.-||| -II llilv ATTORNEY Unite States Patent 3,267,832 CHIMNEY COVER ASSEMBLY Charles G. Hinkle, 5 Roberta Drive, Taylors, S.C. Filed June 8, 1964, Ser. No. 373,351 6 Claims. (Cl. 98-59) This invention relates to a cover assembly for a chimney and the like.

It is well known that rain, insects and birds often enter a chimney, and that considerable heat loss occurs during the winter even though the damper be closed as far as possible. Chimney covers of various types have formerly been contemplated, but each of these employed crude linkages for raising and lowering the cover at the top of the chimney. Applicant is concerned with the problem of providing suitable manipulating means for raising and lowering a cover for the purpose -of retaining heat and keeping foreign articles out of the chimney.

Accordingly, it is an important object of this invention to provide a cover assembly for a fireplace chimney which may be easily opened and closed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cover assembly for a fireplace chimney which may be conveniently packaged and easily assembled and installed, and which is effective to prevent heat loss and entry of rain and foreign objects into the chimney.

A very important object of the invention is to provide a chimney cover which may be easily raised and lowered through linkage and which is automatically positively positioned to maintain the cover in raised or in lowered position.

The construction designed to carry out the invention will be hereinafter described, together with other features thereof.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specification and by reference to the accompanying drawing forming a part thereof, wherein an example of the invention is shown and where- FIGURE 1 is a perspective view, with parts broken away, illustrating a cover assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention positioned upon a chimney liner with parts in raised position,

FIGURE 2 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 in FIGURE 1 with parts in lowered position but illustrating raised or open position in broken lines.

The drawing illustrates a cover assembly for a chimney liner L. The cover assembly includes an imperforate cover plate A supported by a housing B spaced below the cover plate. Bracket means C are mounted on the housing B for positioning the assembly upon the liner. A sleeve D is carried by the housing B and extends downwardly therefrom. The sleeve has at least one vertical slot or guide E with a pair of vertically spaced slot portions F extending laterally thereof acting as stops for positively positioning the parts in raised or lowered position. Vertical linkage means G is connected to said plate and extends downwardly through the housing and sleeve for convenient access adjacent the fireplace. A protuberance H is carried by the link and extends into the slot for guidance thereby. Spring means I in compression and torsion is positioned about the shaft between the cover plate and the housing for urging the cover plate upwardly and urging the linkage means to rotate in a direction to cause the protuberance to enter a lateral slot when aligned therewith.

The chimney liner L is illustrated as being within a chimney illustrated in broken lines at 10 in FIGURE 2. It will be noted that the opening 'for the fireplace is illustrated at 11. The cover plate A is illustrated as being rectangular in shape, and is adapted to fit over the edges of the liner L. The cover A is supported by linkage G which has support within a housing B. The housing B has circumferentially spaced bracket means C fastened thereto as by bolts 12. The bracket means each includes a vertical arm 13 for attachment to the housing B, a horizontal offset portion 14, a standard 15, an outwardly projecting arm 16, and a downturned portion 17. The liner is provided with suitable means to make a level surface :for receiving the bottom 18 of the cover A in the form of grouting 19. The grouting 19 may take the form of caulking or a sponge rubber-like element to insure a smooth, tight fit.

The housing B has a downwardly extending sleeve D which also receives the linkage means G. A pair of vertical slots E act as a guide, as illustrated at 20, in FIG- URES 1 and 2. A pair of stop members are vertically spaced in the form of laterally extending slots located at each end of the guides 20 for accommodating the protuberance H, illustrated in the form of a pin 21, in FIG- URE 2. The linkage G has an upper rod-like portion 22 which has connection with a fitting 23 which has an annular bore 24 therein. The rod 22 is fixed within the annular bore 24 as by setscrews 25. The fitting may be formed as a part of the cover A as illustrated.

A coil spring I is positioned between the housing B and the cover A, one end 26 being fastened within a fitting 27 carried by the bottom 18 of the cover A and the other end 28 being carried by the bracket means C. The coil spring is in compression and torsion urging the cover A upwardly and normally turns the rod 22 in a clockwise direction in the drawing to normally urge the abutment or protuberance H into one of the slots F.

The linkage G includes a link or rod section 29 which is attached by the pin 30 to the rod 22. A number of short linkage sections may be provided intermediate the rod 22 and link 29 and may be suitably connected as by pins such as that illustrated at 30. A handle 31 is carried by the lowermost linkage section and is positioned for easy access in the vicinity of the fireplace by choosing the correct number of linkage sections.

Thus, upon release of the pin H (FIGURE 1) from the upper stop F by turning the handle 31 in a counter clockwise direction, against the tors-ion of spring I, and pulling downwardly upon the handle, the pin H may be pulled downwardly and aligned with the lower stop F, which it automatically enters by virtue of the spring I normally turning the linkage G in the direction of the arrow in FIGURE 1. Conversely upon again turning the handle from the position illustrated in FIGURE 2 in a counter clockwise direction, the compression of the spring I will automatically raise the linkage until the pin H is urged by the torsion of the spring I back into the upper stop where it is positively positioned in raised position with the cover open. The parts may be easily packaged and assembled by securing the simple fastening means 12, 25 and 30 and seating or positioning the spring I upon the bracket C and fitting 27. The chimney cover may be used without the conventional fireplace damper, since its function is performed by covers of the present invention.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described using specific terms, such description is for illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cover assembly for a fireplace chimney liner including, a cover plate, a housing spaced below said cover plate, means carried by said housing for positioning same upon the liner, vertical link means connected to said plate extending downwardly through said housing for access Patented August 23, 1966 adjacent the fireplace, a protuberance carried by said link, a vertical guide carried by said housing receiving said protuberance, a pair of vertically spaced stop portions extending laterally from said vertical guide for receiving said protuberance, and spring means positioned for urging the plate upwardly and urging the link means to rotate in a direction to cause said protuberance to be received by a lateral stop portion when aligned therewith.

2. A cover assembly for a fireplace chimney liner including, an irnperforate cover plate, a housing spaced below said cover plate, means carried by said housing for positioning same upon the liner, a sleeve carried by said housing extending downwardly therefrom, said sleeve having a vertical slot with a pair of vertically spaced slot portions extending laterally thereof, vertical linkage means connected to said plate extending downwardly through said sleeve for access adjacent the fireplace, a protuberance carried by said link extending into said slot for guidance thereby, and spring means positioned about the shaft between the cover plate and the housing for urging the plate upwardly and urging the linkage means to rotate in a direction to cause said protuberance to enter a lateral slot when aligned therewith.

3. In a cover assembly for a fireplace chimney liner including, a cover plate, a housing spaced below said cover plate, means carried by said housing for positioning same upon the liner, and vertical link means connected to said plate extending downwardly through said housing to a point adjacent the fireplace, the improvement including, complementary guide means and follower means therefor carried by said linkage means and said housing, a pair of vertically spaced stop portions extending laterally from said guide means for engagement with said follower means, and spring means positioned for urging the cover plate upwardly and urging relative rotation between the guide means and the follower means in a direction to cause said follower means to engage a stop portion when aligned therewith.

4. The cover assembly set forth in claim 3 in which said spring means includes a coil spring positioned about said linkage means in compression and in torsion.

5. In a cover assembly for a fireplace chimney liner having a cover plate, a housing spaced below said cover plate, means carried by said housing for positioning same upon the liner, and vertical linkage means connected to said plate extending downwardly for access adjacent the fireplace, the improvement including, a vertical sleeve portion carried by said housing, said sleeve having a vertical guide with a pair of vertically spaced stop portions extending laterally from said vertical guide, a proturberance carried by said link received by said guide, and spring means positioned for urging the plate upwardly and urging the linkage means to rotate in a direction to cause said protuberance to engage a stop portion when aligned therewith.

, 6. A cover assembly for a fireplace chimney liner including, an imperforate cover plate, a housing spaced below said cover plate, means carried by said housing for positioning same upon the liner, a sleeve carried by said housing extending downwardly therefrom, said sleeve having a pair of vertically spaced slot portions with a connecting slot from which said vertically spaced slots extend, laterally vertical linkage means connected to said plate extending downwardly through said sleeve for access adjacent the fireplace, a protuberance carried by said link extending into said slot for guidance thereby, coil spring means positioned about the shaft between the cover plate and the housing, means for fixing a first end of said spring means with respect to said cover plate, and means for fixing the other end of said spring means with respect to said housing for urging the plate upwardly and urging the linkage means to rotate in a direction to cause said protuberance to enter a lateral slot when aligned therewith.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 7/1854 Thompson 9842 8/1895 Shannon 9859 

1. A COVER ASSEMBLY FOR A FIREPLACE CHIMNEY LINER INCLUDING, A COVER PLATE, A HOUSING SPACED BELOW SAID COVER PLATE, MEANS CARRIED BY SAID HOUSING FOR POSITIONING SAME UPON THE LINER, VERTICAL LINK MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID PLATE EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY THROUGH SAID HOUSING FOR ACCESS ADJACENT THE FIREPLACE, A PROTUBERANCE CARRIED BY SAID LINK, A VERTICAL GUIDE CARRIED BY SAID HOUSING RECEIVING SAID PROTUBERANCE, A PAIR OF VERTICALLY SPACED STOP PORTIONS EXTENDING LATERALLY FROM SAID VERTICAL GUIDE FOR RECEIVING SAID PROTUBERANCE, AND SPRING MEANS POSITIONED FOR URGING THE PLATE UPWARDLY AND URGING THE LINK MEANS 